Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Shadow Rebirth
by Neighbor
Summary: A retelling of the events of the Shadow Rider Arc. Will contain new characters and a different chain of events compared to the Anime. So I suppose you can call this an AU. While I hope to preserve the seriousness of the Arc, I will try to add a little bit of more humor as well. Chapter 4 now up!
1. Evil Mobilizes

Somewhere in the darkest reaches of the world, a shadowy group of figures have met, to plot their sinister plan. None of them were visible save for their figure and black silhouette. Nothing was audible until a voice spoke out …

"Our time has come…the pact has been made…and victory is within our grasp!" The voice, masculine in nature, addressed the rest of the group. "Once Duel Academy falls, soon the entire world will follow! Now, which among you will be the first to engage them?"

"I shall go." Replied a younger, yet menacing voice. "I shall send all the key keepers to an inferno afterlife by myself."

"Nightshroud," said the voice, supposedly their leader, "be mindful of your arrogance, these may be children you're going up against, but do not let that fool you. The Duel Academy will without a doubt entrust the keys to their most skilled duelists."

"Hahaha!" A twisted laugh broke the moody tone, followed by a third voice entering the discussion. "That's right Nightshroud, I would hate to see you be embarrassed by a bunch of kids before I had a chance to mop the floor with you."

Nightshroud took a step forward at his insulter, revealing his appearance to be a tall brown haired young man dressed in a black trench coat. Although on his face he wore a black mask resembling a dragon. "Shut it!" Nightshroud spat back, "you're lucky were on the same team or I'd-"

"Enough!" Roared the leader. "I didn't hire you two to kill each other. Your wish is granted Nightshroud, head off for Duel Academy at once. And you'd had better bring me a spirit key, you know the penalty for failure."

"Not to worry, I shall defeat these Key Keepers, master." Nightshroud took a bow and exited.

"Have fun!" Snickered the mysterious, and strange shadow at his exiting accomplice.

* * *

By nighttime thunder and rain had begun to bombard the Duel Academy. It seemed everyone on the island was asleep at this time, save for Chancellor Sheppard, who stood alone at his office. He gazed outside his window, looking at the large volcano which dominated the island's landscape. Even at this hour, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep, it was if something of great momentum was about to occur.

He could barely see a thing in the darkness, save for when the occasional lightning flash quickly illuminated his vision. Another batch of lightning shot down from the sky, however this time, the Chancellor spotted something peculiar. Among the clouded sky he spotted a dark object, resembling something with large gliding wings. The object remained in the air for a time, but then quickly descended near the rim of the volcano.

Sheppard's face remained stoic as he calmly placed his hands behind his back. Never shifting his gaze at the spot the object landed, he said to himself solemnly, "And so it begins, the fight….the war. I only hope we have the courage to face it…."

* * *

Near the rim of the volcano, the dark object, revealed to be a hang glider, landed on the rugged surface. Its occupant quickly got off and discarded the device. Without any the warning the glider burst into flames, illuminating the shadowy intruder, who was none other than Nightshroud, first of the Shadow Riders.

Around his neck was an old medallion which seemed to be broken in half. Nightshroud was slightly caught off guard, as it started to glow with a golden aura. He held the object in his hand for a brief moment, before gazing over at the Academy.

"Heh, looks like the old Gravekeeper is losing his edge." Scoffed Nightshroud. "No matter, they will be the first to go."

* * *

At the Slifer Red Dorm, all was quiet except for the echoes of thunder in the distance. That is, it would have been all quiet, were it not for the occupants of a certain Slifer dorm room, who were far more active than they should be at one in the morning.

"Alright Chazz! It's time to get your game on!" Exclaimed Jaden Yuki, everyone's favorite hyperactive first year Slifer Red.

"As if you slacker!" Spurred Chazz Princeton, ex-Obelisk blue turned Slifer red, who was irritated at his opponent's unwanted cheeriness. "This game is about to end just like it always should, with The Chazz at the top of the podium!"

"On the contrary gentlemen," added Bastion Misawa, top duelist and genius of Ra Yellow, "it will be me who will walk away as the winner of all this."

"Ha!" countered Jaden, "in your dreams Bastion, I got this one in the bag!"

"Laugh it up all you want Jaden, but I've run all the numbers in my head. And by my calculations, the chances of me beating the two of you are 86.216%. Face it, the game is over."

"Well that's too bad for you, because even if there's only on a .1% chance of me winning, I'm still going for it!" Said Jaden heroically.

"Clever till the end I see… Very well! I respect your determination!"

"Are you two ladies done chatting yet?" Interpreted Chazz sarcastically. "Because I'd like to end this game before I turn eighty-two!"

"He's right," concluded Bastion. "and it's my move! Draw!" A fiendish grin appeared upon the Ra's face as he looked at his newly drawn card. "Sorry gents, but this is the end!"

"What?!" Cried the Elemental HERO duelist.

"You got to be bluffing Einstein." Added the VWXYZ duelist.

"Afraid not," declared the analytical duelist "the card I drew….IS A HIT 2 CARD!"

A look of sheer terror engulfed the faces of the two Slifers. This truly was the end.

"Well Chazz," said Bastion devilishly, "you're the one to my left." Bastion slowly slid the UNO Attack machine to the now petrified Chazz.

*Gulp* "N-no problem, the Ch-Chazz can handle anything…" Chazz uttered as he slowly moved his trembling hand to the button that would decide his fate.

"Well then, Chazz, time to get it over with" Added the now relaxed Jaden, thankful he wasn't in Chazz's position.

"Alright! Alright! I'm doing it!" Chazz barked back. He took another gulp and placed his finger on the button. For what seemed like an eternity, Chazz slowly applied pressure to the button until suddenly.

*BING*

Chazz quickly covered his face with his hands to protect himself against the barrage of cards he was certain the machine would shoot out. But to his surprise, nothing happened.

After a brief period of silence, Chazz let out a huge sigh. "H-ha, see what did I tell you, The Chazz can handle anything." Boasted the black-clad teen as he regained his composure.

"Uh Chazz," interjected Jaden, "I hate to burst your bubble, but Bastion drew a Hit 2 card, you still need to press the button one more time."

Chazz's composure quickly disintegrated upon hearing his words.

"O-Of course…I knew that…" Chazz quickly found himself in the same terrible situation again. Bringing his finger to the device, he slowly pressed the button until…

*BING*

The Slifer quickly covered his face once again to shield himself from the barrage of cards he was certain were going to come shooting out of the machine. After getting no other response from the machine, he slowly lowered his hands to inspect the machine.

"Ha! See I told you I could-"

Chazz was quickly cut off by about a dozen cards shooting at him square in the face. The other occupants of the room burst out into laughter at the sight of the poor duelist's predicament.

"Grrrrrr, CAN IT!" Yelled Chazz at his fellow peers. "That was just a lucky draw, you got that!"

Chazz's anger quickly turned to surprise when a small, ghost like creature appeared on his shoulder.

"Gee boss, you sure are a high roller huh?" Uttered the yellow Ojama, oblivious to the irritation he was to his "Boss."

"Errrrr, you can shut it too pipsqueak!" Chazz yelled as he clasp the spirit between his hands, causing it to disappear, for now.

"Sure Chazz, sure, just a lucky draw." Jaden managed to say while holding back his laughter. However a slight tug at his red jacket's sleeve made him turn his attention to his right, where Syrus Truesdale was sitting.

"Ah, Sy! Sorry there bud, I almost forgot you were there." The young duelist exclaimed to his good friend. You couldn't really blame him for forgetting though, with Syrus' short stature and shy personality, he wasn't too hard to forget.

"It's fine Jay. I just had a question"

"Sure thing bud, what is it?"

"What happens when you have no more cards in your hand?" Asked Syrus innocently, showing Jaden his empty hand, void of any cards.

"What?!" Exclaimed the three remaining boys, who all fell to the floor in shock, leaving Syrus alone sweat-dropping.

"HEY! Could you guys keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep!" Said a voice coming from the top bunk bed, belonging to none other than Chumley.

"Whoops, sorry Chum." Jaden said embarrassed. _Man I keep forgetting everyone today_, Jaden thought.

"He's right," added Bastion, "it's getting late and we should get some rest. Wouldn't want to be late for Crowler's morning lectures now would we?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." Added in a tired Chazz

"Welp I'll be off, thanks for having me Jaden."

"No problem Bastion!"

Bastion got up and left the room. Seconds later someone was knocking on the door.

"I'll get it!" Jaden said cheerfully as he raced to the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me." Said a very familiar voice.

"Bastion?!" Jaden quickly opened the door, only to reveal the Ra Yellow standing in the rain completely soaked.

"You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella I could borrow would you?" asked Bastion very unenthusiastically.

"I sure do!" Jaden quickly rummaged through the closet, finally pulling out the sought umbrella. "I hope you like Winged Kuribohs!"

"What kind of quest-" Bastion cut himself off once he saw the Winged Kuriboh patterned umbrella that was just handed to him. After inspecting it, Bastion let out a sigh and opened the umbrella, shielding himself from the heavy rain.

"It will have to do, thank you Jaden, see you tomorrow." Bastion said with gratitude as he trotted away.

"Likewise bud, Adios!" The Slifer said, a little too enthusiastically for 1:00 in the morning_. Man, friends sure do make these rainy days a lot more fun and exciting!_ He thought to himself.

* * *

However, little does he and his friends know, that things around Duel Academy were going to get much more exciting, and dangerous.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, that's it for chapter 1. Sorry that its nothing too fancy, but I have some ideas in my head that I think would make for some great reading. Now I just need to get those ideas onto paper without utterly butchering them. Don't forget to review, although please be gentle, this is my first fanfic on this website.


	2. Morning Drama

The harsh storm that had been drenching the Academy Island and its inhabitants had final subsided by the morning. The sun had made its trek across the horizon and had illuminated the island and the surrounding seas, light reflected off the smooth ocean waves, creating a dazing image to behold. However three certain Slifer Reds loathed the sun's coming, because that only meant one thing: waking up.

*BEEP**BEEP**BEEP**BEEP*

It was at that moment, when rays of sunlight started to shot through into the interior of the Slifer dorm room, the dreaded alarm clock, arch-nemesis of any teen's life, sounded its horn. It was quickly followed by the tired groans of the room's occupants.

"Ughhh, Jay…, can you hit the snooze button?" groaned a very groggy Syrus

"Yeah… no prob-LEM!" Jaden cried out the last part out of sheer surprise, as three rippling shots sounded throughout the room. So loud their shock and sound waves sent Jaden tumbling of his bed and landing flat on his head, while leaving Syrus and Chumley holding onto the their bunks bracing for dear life.

"Ah man.." said Jaden sorely as he rubbed the top of his head, "who's idea was it to replace roster crows with cannons…?"

The sound of laughter directed his attention to the entrance of the room, where he saw none other than Bastion Misawa standing with his arms crossed, and a grin on his face. Standing to the right of the Ra was an even bigger surprise for the Slifers. A huge mechanical creature whose structure resembled that of a dragon, except for the large and long barreled guns that occupied the space where it's head and arms should be.

The Ra Yellow let out another small chuckle before he addressed the startled Slifers. "Well, good morning to you gents. I hope I didn't wake you."

"Waking us up would be an understatement…" stated Jaden, still slightly shaken up. Although a quick shake of his head removed any remaining shell shock, and he quickly raced towards Bastion's strange metallic companion.

"Wow…" Jaden said in awe as he examined the monster. After a good 10 seconds of examination, Jaden shifted his attention to Bastion. "Not that it isn't a blast to see you Bastion,"

"Literally.." mumbled Chumley from his bunk bed as he pulled the blankets over his head.

"but why are you here? And more importantly, who is this sweet monster you got here!?"

"Ah, how foolish of me, I've forgotten my manners. Jaden, meet Barrel Dragon. Barrel Dragon," Bastion said smoothly as waved his hand towards the newly awakened teens, "meet the Slifers."

"Wow," Jaden said once again in astonishment, "COOL! Barrel Dragon Huh?! I've never heard of that card!"

"Not surprising" the Ra said calmly as he removed the monster card from his duel disk and handed it to Jaden, causing the hologram to disappear. "The card is extremely rare, one known copy was given out to the winner of the Inter-Continental championship, some American by the name of Keith Howard. As for me, well," Bastion brought a hand to the back of his head and gave a small smile, "I just happened to get lucky obtaining a copy in a card pack."

"Sweet deal!" proclaimed the now invigorated Slifer Red. "How come I haven't seen you use it in a duel before though? That thing must blow away the competition!"

"Well I did implement it into my 7th deck, the one designed to counter yours, however I never got the chance to use it during our duel, thanks to your Elemental HERO Wildheart." Bastion seemed rather unenthusiastic to say that last part. "And as for why I am here," The Ra reached for something behind his back and handed to the Elemental HERO duelist a familiar Winged Kuriboh patterned umbrella, "I'm here to return this to you."

"Ah cool, thanks Bastion." Jaden returned the Barrel Dragon card back to Bastion before taking the umbrella.

The analytical duelist then made his way to the door and exited, but not before sticking his head back in to say, "Oh! And one more thing gents, daylight savings time started last night, so class will be starting in approximately ten minutes and 45 seconds, so long."

"WHAT TEN MINUTES?!" Jaden and Syrus both cried out in shock. The two of them immediately began to rummage around the room for a good five minutes in a desperate attempt to get dressed. Socks, shirts and other clothing articles flew across the room in a panicked frenzy.

Syrus, after managing to make himself somewhat presentable, yelled up to the top bunk bed, "Hey Chumley! You Coming?"

"You guys go on ahead," replied the koala like duelist, "I need at least three grilled cheeses in my system before I can make my way over to class."

"Suit yourself!" Yelled Jaden as he grabbed Syrus by the arm, bolted out of the room and started a mad dash to Professor Crowler's classroom.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside one of Duel Academy many classrooms, Professor Vellian Crowler was deep into one of his famous dueling lectures. He was going off on the importance of including trap cards in your dueling deck and the different ways your opponent can counter them. Unbeknownst to him, his endless ranting had already caused half of the class to fall asleep, and leaving another quarter playing with their student PDAs or making paper airplanes.

Among the section of students that still seemed to give a little bit of interest were Bastion Misawa and Alexis Rhodes, top female duelist and known as the "Queen of Obelisk Blue." Alexis surveyed the crowd with a look of concern in her eyes before scribbling something on a piece of paper. The blonde haired girl then crumbled the paper up and swiftly tossed it to Misawa while Crowler wasn't looking. The Ra Yellow looked to both his sides before opening the note, which read:

_Where is Jaden? If he's late again Crowler is going to kill him!_

Bastion scribbled something down himself before tossing it back to Alexis. The Cyber Girl duelist opened it up to read his response:

_Don't you mean, where is Jaden __**and**__ Syrus?_

Bastion watched as she read the note, and noticed a slight blush appear on her cheeks. She then scribbled something down again and threw it back to him, much more violently this time.

_You know what I mean wise guy! Anyway, where are those two?!_

The black haired boy chuckled to himself at her angry response, and wrote down his own. He once again swiftly tossed it back to her. It simply stated:

_Give it a moment._

The Obelisk teen was about to ask him verbally what he meant, but she was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open. The entire class, including a very irritated Professor Crowler turned to the classroom door. There, a panting Jaden Yuki stood, hunched over, in a vain attempt to catch his breath. His left hand was tightly clenched around the forearm of Syrus Truesdale, who looked so tizzy that many thought he was about to throw up.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF RA DO YOU TWO THINK YOUR DOING?!" Roared Crowler, extremely irritated now that he found out who was responsible for this interruption. "BARGING INTO MY CLASSROOM IS ONE THING, BUT EVEN WORSE THAN THAT, YOU TWO SLACKERS DISRUPTED MY GENIUS LECTURE!"

"He-he, sorry about that teach…" Jaden said nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, bro?" Syrus asked weakly as Jaden turned to him.

"Yeah? What is it bud?"

"Do you think you could let go of me now? I think I'm losing circulation in my arm." The blue haired duelist managed to say before completely passing out.

"Whoops! Sorry about that!"

Jaden released his grip of Syrus' arm, prompting the small Slifer to take a huge breath of relief.

"Well now, if you two circus performers are done now," stated a seemingly calm Crowler, "I do believe this is actually a good thing, the two of you dropping by so rudely. Yes! Its perfect!"

The two Slifers whispered to each other. "Uh, why do I think it would be better to have Crowler yelling at us right now?" "Beats me bro, but I don't like it."

"Syrus Truesdale!" Crowler stated firmly. The blue haired duelist snapped at attention upon hearing his name called. "You will be participating in a little duel today Mr. Truesdale." A wide grin formed upon Crowler's face as he spoke.

"M-me?!" Syrus said in disbelief.

"Correct, I'm mean since you came to my class so late, you missed out on quite a lot of vital dueling knowledge. And being the kind and courteous teacher that I am, I will allow you to make it up. And of course the quickest way to learn about dueling _is to duel._"

Crowler then took out his PDA from his fancy coat pocket and opened the lottery app. "Now," Crowler said as he started the app, "let's see who your opponent will be, shall we? Ah yes, he will be perfect. Alexander Issacson, you will be dueling our little friend here!"

"Alexander Issacson?!" Bastion proclaimed.

"But he's an Obelisk Blue! Poor Syrus..." added a concerned Alexis.

"Yup, I'm done for." A sheepish Syrus stated to himself.

* * *

Author's Note: That's it for chapter two. Sorry that is is significantly shorter that the previous one. I just can't divide up my writing up properly if my life depended on it. No shadow riders in this chapter either, but I plan for this these beginning chapters to be a little silly. Next chapter will cover Syrus' duel, and hopefully the spirit keys. By chapter 4 Nightshroud will be doing his thing as well. Thank you for those who are reading and I hope you can put up with my mediocre writing. And also thank you to those who reviewed, I'm glad someone besides me gets enjoyment out of all this.


	3. Duel! Syrus rises to the Challenge!

Chapter 3

* * *

News of this surprise duel between a Slifer Red and an Obelisk Blue soon became the talk of the class as the seated students began to chat amongst each other. Most were just glad to be done hearing Crowler's boring lecture. While others were eager to see just how this duel was about to unfold.

"Man this is going to be sweet. I always love watching a Slifer get destroyed." Said one male Obelisk.

Two Obelisk blues girls chatted with each other. "I kinda feel bad for the little guy; I heard the Issacson kid is pretty good." "Yeah but didn't the blue haired kid and that Jaden beat those two professional tag team duelists?"

"It was probably because Jaden carried him the whole way." Interjected one Ra Yellow male.

Jaden had just about heard enough of all this gossip. Taking a few steps forward, he yelled at the group of students, "Well I don't care who Syrus' is going up against! Even if he was dueling against Yugi Muto himself I would still bet on Syrus coming out on top!"

This bold statement silenced the classroom for a moment, only for a random voice to shout out, "Seriously!?"

"Well…., maybe not Yugi…. But still! I have faith in Syrus and he's going to prove just what a great duelist he is!"

"Save your breath you Slifer Slacker." A voice shot out at Jaden, while its owner, stood up to address Jaden. He was a tall, Caucasian male with a buzz cut, donning a standard Obelisk Blue uniform, not the kind of guy who looked exactly friendly. "I don't care how good you think he is, so let me tell you something. When you duel me, Alexander the Great, defeat is a certainty!"

_"Gee, and I thought Chazz had a high opinion of himself" _Alexis thought to herself in her seat.

"Well now if we are all finished with our little pre-game pep talk," Crowler addressed to the class, "lets head down to the Duel stadium. Now I want everyone to for a neat, single file li-"

Before he could finish his instructions Crowler found himself standing before a charging stampede of students eager to get out of the classroom. Crowler shuffled side to side nervously before sticking out his arm in front of him in a futile attempt to stop the oncoming mass of students. "H-hold on a minute!" Crowler said franticly, "I have a PhD. in dueling and I command you students to respect-" It was too late for the poor professor however, as he soon found himself on face flat on the ground and being trampled by the soles of the charging student's shoes. By the time the dust from ruckus cleared, Crowler was alone in the room, still twitching on the ground from the traumatic experience. "K-kids th-these days.. g-got n-no re-respect for authority."

* * *

By the time Crowler had recovered and managed to crawl his way to the duel stadium, the students had already taken their seats in the stands, save for Jaden, Alexis, Bastion, and Syrus, who were talking by the duel platform, and Alexander, who stood confidently with his arms crossed on his side of the platform.

"I'm still not sure about this guys…" said a still nervous Syrus.

"Relax buddy, I know you'll do fine!" reassured Jaden.

"I agree," stated Bastion, "I've seen this Alexander fellow duel before. That said, don't color me impressed."

"What kind of deck does he run anyway Bastion?" Asked Alexis.

"A straight forward Beatdown deck. While it might be a little overwhelming at first, it shouldn't pose any real threat to anyone who can active a Trap card. The guy is all bronze and no brain."

"Anyone want to explain to me what exactly is going on here?" asked a familiar voice behind the group.

As the four turned around, they found none other than Chazz Princeton.

"Ah! I thought we were missing someone!" said Jaden. "Why weren't you in class Chazz?"

"I was on a bathroom break slacker." Replied Chazz plainly.

The young Princeton was soon surprised though when a small, yet very obnoxious yellow duel spirit appeared on his shoulder.

"That's right!" the spirit called out in its humorous voice. "Boss here has the bladder of a chipmunk."

"What was that you little pest!" Chazz yelled at the Ojama, causing everyone in the group, save for Jaden, to shoot him a weird look. "Why don't you do something useful for a change and LEAVE ME ALONE!" With those words Chazz clapped the spirit in between his hands, causing it to disappear in a cloud of smoke, for now.

"Ha, having a little duel spirit problems there Chazz?" Jaden said cheerfully as his own duel spirit, the Winged Kuriboh, appeared next to him, stating the only words it seemed to be able to utter, _Kuri Kuri._

"Duel what?" Alexis asked Jaden, confused as to why she saw what seemed to be Chazz arguing with his shoulder.

"Uhhh, oh its nothing…" Jaden quickly worked to change the subject. "Anyway, Syrus here is going to duel some Obelisk blue by the name of Alexander."

"Alexander?!" Chazz replied, seemingly shocked, he quickly walked over to the young Truesdale and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Listen Syrus! You'd better kick this guy's ass! Alright!?"

"Woah, easy there Chazz…" Alexis said as she calmly took Chazz's hands off the young duelist's shoulders. "What are you getting so worked up about?"

"Errrrr, it's that punk!" Chazz declared as he pointed at Alexander. "Back when I was an Obelisk Blue, that punk and his goons decided it would be a good idea to replace all the eggwiches at the card shack with tuna fish sandwiches!"

"Okay… so what? Are you deathly allergic to tuna or…?" Alexis asked, missing what exactly Chazz was trying to get at.

"No! I didn't even know about the stupid prank, that is until those losers lied to campus security, and said I was the one who did it. Their stupid stunt landed me in eight days of cleanup duty!" Chazz said bitterly.

"And that's why you want Syrus to win?" Asked Bastion. "Honestly, I can understand you have an aversion towards the guy, but using Syrus as your instrument of vengeance is just plain wrong."

"Hey don't get me wrong," explained the black clad duelist, "I want Syrus to win regardless of guy he's facing. It's just that now, I REALLY want him to win."

"Will our duelist please make their way to the dueling platform so we can begin?" announced Crowler through a microphone. _The sooner this is over, the sooner I can go to the nurse's office…_ thought Crowler as he rubbed his back, still sore from the trampling incident.

"Alright… looks like I'm up..." said a lack luster Syrus.

"Hey, keep your head up," Alexis said sweetly. "I'm sure you'll do just fine." She smiled at the short duelist, causing the latter to blush.

"R-right, I'll do my best." Syrus told the group as he walked up to the platform, reinvigorated at the sight of the beautiful girl's smile.

The blue haired boy took his spot at the platform as the rest of the group watched from their location. Alexander scanned his opponent as if to size him up, then uttered confidently, "Don't worry pipsqueak, I won't try to humiliate you that badly!" He then uttered a stupid laugh, apparently pound of himself for making, in his mind, such a witty comment.

"This guy can't be serious…" Bastion muttered to himself.

"Don't let him get to you Sy! He's just trying to get inside your head!" Cried Jaden at his longtime friend.

"Yeah, kick his ass Syrus!" Chazz added in enthusiastically. Eager to see his apparent nemesis be defeated. Alexis simply let out a sigh in response to the two boys so called "cheering."

"Well without further ado," Crowler said into the microphone, "DUEL!" He then quickly raced off the platform, as if to avoid any further injury to his being.

* * *

**Syrus: 4000 LP**

**Alexander:4000 LP**

The two duelists drew the starting hands as their life point meters raced up to 4000 each.

"Why don't you go first short stuff." Alexander said boastfully. "After all, you're going to need every advantage you can get."

"Fine, I will!" Replied a confident Syrus. "My move! Draw!" Syrus added the drawn card to his hand and carefully looked at what he had. After a few seconds of forming a strategy in his head, he made his move.

"I summon my **Cycroid** (1000) in defense mode!" Syrus slapped the card onto his duel disk, and a small monster resembling a bicycle with an eye and arms instead of handlebars appeared on the field.

"I also place two cards face down as well!" Syrus said as he slid the two cards into his duel disk's slots. "That ends my turn."

"Ha, you call that thing a monster?" Alexander said as he drew his card. "Let me show you what a real monster looks like! I summon my **Mechanicalchaser** (1850) in attack position!" A hologram of a spherical machine with several menacing weapon appendages generated itself on his side of the field. "Now sent that tricycle back to the scrap heap it came from!"

"Not before I activate my Trap card! **Super charge**! I can activate this when my opponent declares an attack and I only have roid monsters on my side of the field. It's effect lets me draw two cards from my deck!"

"Good! You'll need them!" Alexander yelled back as his mechanical hunter flew forward and quickly skewered the bicycle-like monster with its pointed spear. Syrus grunted as his monster then burst into a hologram explosion.

"I think that's enough punishment for now. I set one card and end my turn." Alexander grinned as he saw Syrus' field completely void of any monster defense.

"My move! Draw! First off, I'll activate the spell card **Premature Burial**. At the cost of 800 life points, I get to summon one monster from my graveyard and equip it to this card!" Syrus twitched as his life point counter dropped by 800. "So I return to the field **Cycroid** (800) in attack mode!"

**Syrus: 3200 LP**

**Alexander: 4000 LP**

Alexander scoffed at the reappearance of the tiny monster. "Oh no! What ever shall I do?!"

"I'm not done yet! I summon my **Steamroid **(1800) in attack mode! And thanks to its special ability, when its attacks an opposing monster, it gains 500 attack points during the battle phase! Now go **Streamroid**, attack **Mechanicalchaser**!"

The black train roared its horn as it drove forward and collided with Alexander's monster, destroying it in an instant.

**Syrus: 3200 LP**

**Alexander: 3550 LP**

"Atta boy Sy!" cheered Jaden

"Good show." Added Bastion.

"It's your turn now **Cycroid**, attack him directly!" Syrus called at his monster.

"Not so fast Slacker!" yelled Alexander angrily. "I activate my Trap card, **Tiki Soul**!"

The face down card lifted up, and a Tiki statue armed with a shield and cleaver in each of its hands materialized on Alexander's field.

"This Trap card also acts as a monster. A monster with 1800 defense points that is!"

_Tch, and just when I thought I had him._ Syrus thought to himself. "I end my turn."

"I though you would. I draw!" Alexander grinned at the sight of his newly drawn card. "I summon to the field **Zombyra the Dark** (2100) in attack mode!"

"2100 attack points?!" cried Chazz.

"Oh boy, Syrus is going have a hard time dealing with that." Alexis commented.

"Not necessarily," added Bastion, "while **Zombyra the Dark** is indeed powerful, it has two major drawback effects. One: it loses 200 attack points every time it attacks and two: it can't attack directly. Syrus is going need a plan to take him out. And I think his face down card will do just that."

"Now, **Zombyra the Dark**! Attack **Cycroid** with Underworld Fist of Demise!"

The caped skeletal monster raced towards the mechanical roid with blinding speed.

"Looks like your little tricycle is about to be trashed twice in the same duel!" yelled Alexander in triumph.

"Sorry, but I play my face down card, **Covering Fire**! When my monster is attacked, I can activate this! And increase my attacked monster's strength by the attack points of one my other monsters!"

A blue aura emerged from Steamroid and slowly crept to and surrounded Cycroid, increasing the bicycle monster's attack by 1800 points.

"Now **Cycroid**, Go! Counter-attack!" Commanded Syrus as his monster plowed through Alexander's monster and dropped the latter's life points by 400.

**Syrus: 3200 LP**

**Alexander: 3150 LP**

"Tch, that was just a lucky move! You got that twerp! I set a card and end my turn." Alexander said bitterly.

_Alright! This is going great! If I can just keep this up, I might just beat this guy! _Syrus thought to himself in excitement.

"My turn! And I'll start if off by summoning my **Drillroid **(1600) in attack mode! And I'll attack your **Tiki Soul** with him!"

"What? Have you lost your mind kid?! My **Tiki Soul** has 200 more defense points!"

"With **Drillroid** it doesn't matter! Because his special ability lets him destroy any defense position monster he battles with, regardless of how many points it may have!"

Alexander watched in shock as the drill machine pierced through his Tiki's shield and shattered the statue into pieces.

"Now that he's gone, I attack you directly with my Steamroid!"

Alexander yelled as the train slammed into him, dropping his life points by 1800.

"Nicely done! Now you attack **Cycroid**!" Syrus commanded in excitement.

"I don't think so Slacker! I activate my Trap card, **Call of the Haunted**! With this, I can Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard in attack position, and I pick **Zombyra the Dark**! (2100)"

"Oh great… him again…" Alexis mumbled to herself.

_Aw man, and just when I thought I was rid of him._ Syrus thought in dismay. "I set one face down card and end my turn."

**Syrus: 3200 LP**

**Alexander: 1350 LP**

"I draw!" Alexander added the drawn card to his hand and began to think to himself. _This punk is putting up a bigger fight than I thought… It doesn't matter now though. I have everything I need lined up. I'll wipe out those puny monsters of his this round. And next turn, I'll wipe out his life points! _"First off, I play the spell card **Double Summon**! Like its name suggests, this card allows me to Normal Summon twice this turn. So I'm bringing in my Luster Dragon (1900) and Berserk Gorilla (2000)! Both in attack mode!" He placed the two cards on his duel disk, and a sapphire dragon and a large muscular gorilla materialized on his side of the field.

"Let the destruction begin! I attack your **Drillroid** with my **Zombyra the Dark!**"

The menacing creature simply extended its arm outward with its hand open. Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot out of its palm and hit the drill monster, destroying it in a large explosion. Syrus raised his hand to his face to shield himself from the blast.

**Syrus: 2700 LP**

**Alexander: 1350 LP**

"Next is **Luster Dragon**! Destroy **Steamroid**! And thanks to your monster's effect, it loses 500 attack points during damage calculation!"

The sapphire dragon flew upward a few meters before letting loose a hot stream of fire from its mouth which quickly incinerated the steam driven train.

**Syrus: 2100 LP**

**Alexander: 1350 LP**

"Last but certainly not least, **Berserk Gorilla** , crush that **Cycroid**!"

The giant ape pounded on its chest madly with its huge fists before charging at the roid. With one megaton punch from the beast the machine monster was reduced to a pile of rubble. The shock from the attack nearly sent Syrus tumbling off the stadium.

**Syrus: 900 LP**

**Alexander: 1350 LP**

"Aw man, Syrus!" Jaden yelled in concern for his friend.

Syrus wobbled a little, but quickly regained his bearings and pressed a button on his duel disk. "I activate my Trap card, **Time Machine**! When one of my monsters is destroyed in battle, I can activate this card to bring it back!"

Smoke began to spread through the stadium as a huge black, metallic capsule slowly rose up from the ground. The capsule's door slowly swung opening, and a very familiar bicycle rolled out the machine as it ringed its bell in delight of returning.

"I use the effect of Time Machine to return my **Cycroid** back to me!" said Syrus confidently.

"Ha, give me a break kid. This is the second time you brought back that stupid monster of yours. When are you going to learn that this game is all about power, and your little tricycle just can't compete."

"Well see about that! Because it's my move now! And I'm going to play a little card I like to call **Power Bond**! With this, I can fuse my Cycroid on my field, with another Cycroid in my hand, in order to create **Pair Cycroid**! (1600)"

The two monsters began to spiral together until a flash of light blinded the all spectators. Once it subsided, a lone, bright red, two seated bicycle with gloved arms stood on Syrus' side of the field.

"And thanks to the effect of my Power Bond card its attack is now doubled to 3200!"

"Heh, a nice last ditch effort. But you obviously didn't do your math right kid. Even if you attack my weakest monster, I'll still be left with 50 life points. And because you take damage equal to the monster's attack which was summoned due to **Power Bond**, you're going to lose this duel!" Alexander yelled boastfully.

"Who said I'm going to attack your monsters? **Pair Cycroid** as a pretty neat effect. If it gives up 500 attack points, it can attack my opponent directly!"

"What?! No way!" cried Alexander

"Go **Pair Cycroid**! Attack him directly!"

The little roid monster zoomed past Alexander's monsters and rammed straight into him. The force of the attack sent the latter flying off the platform and landing roughly on the ground.

**Syrus: 900 LP**

**Alexander: 0 LP**

"Yeah I did it!" Syrus said cheerfully as his raised his fist to the sky.

"ALRIGHT SYRUS!" cheered Alexis, Bastion, and Jaden as they raced up to the platform and embraced Syrus in a group hug.

"Uhhh, guys… I can't breathe.." Syrus managed to say, nearly being strangled by the group's embrace.

"I…I lost?" Alexander said in disbelief, still lying on the ground after the traumatic blow to his ego. His attention turned to above him when his spotted a pair of legs in the corner of his eyes. Tracing the legs up to their owner, he found Chazz Princeton looking down at him with a smirk on his face.

"Not so tough now are ya now, eh Tuna Boy?" Chazz said with delight.

"Well I can't say it's what I expected…" Crowler mumbled to himself, "but a duels a duel." He turned on the microphone in his hand and declared, "THE WINNER OF THIS DUEL IS SYRUS TRUESDALE!" Several cheers followed this announcement from the students in the stands. While several more quickly exited the stadium, eager to get to their next class.

Chazz worked his way back to the group, where the three released Syrus from their strangling hug.

"Man what a duel!" exclaimed Jaden, "You really showed that guy how to throw down!"

"Heh…. It was nothing really…" Syrus replied.

"I beg to differ," said Bastion, "you demonstrated some great tactics and skill today. Bravo."

"Yeah, you really stepped up today Syrus." Added Alexis

"Yeah, nicely done kid." Said Chazz.

"Gee, thanks guys!"

"This calls for celebration!" Jaden said cheerfully. "I say we head down to the Ra dorms and feast!"

"We still have classes to go to today, Slacker. Remember?" Chazz replied, annoyed at the Slifer's forgetfulness.

"Oh yeah. Welp! Let's head of then!" The group started for the exit, but was quickly stopped upon hearing a calm voice.

"Actually students, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me right now. If you don't mind the interruption" Said the voice.

The students quickly turned around to find Professor Banner, head of the Slifer Dorm, holding in his arms his cat, Pharaoh.

"What's up Professor Banner! What do you need us to follow you for?" replied Jaden.

"I'm not quite exactly sure myself. But Chancellor Sheppard himself gave me the instructions to take you, you, you, and you with me to see him." Banner said as he pointed to Jaden, Chazz, Alexis, and Bastion. "Apparently it is very important."

"Aw great. When Sheppard is involved, it can't be good." Chazz whispered to the group.

* * *

Author's note: Chapter 3 done! This is by far the longest chapter I have written yet. It also had the first duel of the story too. Next chapter, the whole Shadow Rider fiasco will officially start. Thank you again to those who are reading and a thanks to those who reviewed as well. Hopefully my writing will only get better. Until next time!


	4. The Seven are Chosen!

Chapter 4

"Oh you need not worry about that Chazz." Banner said, able to hear the duelist's whisper. "This meeting is not about some form of punishment for any wrong-doings. Now then, lets head off."

"Wait a minute, if you only called the four of us, what about Syrus?" asked Jaden.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid Syrus can't come with us. The Chancellor made it very clear that only those few selected should be there."

"Well, sorry about that Sy." Jaden said as he turned to his blue haired friend. "Looks like you can't tag along with me on this one. Don't worry though, we'll meet up with you once this is all over and we can celebrate that sweet dueling you did!"

"Yeah, sure thing Jay, catch you later." Syrus said with a wave as he made his way out of the stadium.

"Alright, let's get a move on. We wouldn't want to keep Chancellor Sheppard waiting now would we?" Banner said with a smile.

The group nodded together in approval, "Right!"

* * *

The group made their way to the main office building without any problems. It was a relatively quiet trip, until Jaden finally broke the silence.

"You know Professor Banner, we're not gonna make a run for it. You don't have to escort us all the way to the Chancellor's office!"

Banner gave a small smile to the brown haired boy, "Actually I do. You see, it seems Chancellor Sheppard want's to have a word with me as well."

"Ah… So that's why you knew this wasn't gonna be some kind of punishment."

The group of five made it to the Chancellor's office door just as two others made their way down to the door from the opposite side of hallway. The four students were surprised to see it was Professor, or _Doctor,_ as he preferred to be called, Crowler. To his right was Zane Truesdale, Syrus' older brother and the best duelist in the entire school.

A look of delight appeared on the Doctor's face as he saw the other group. "Well, well. Look at this convocation of students. Some of the best students in the school, I see."

His smile grew larger as his gaze shifted over to Jaden. He took a step forward and leaned forward to make eye contact with the Slifer. "Uh-oh. Which one of these things is not like the other~?" the teacher said in a whimsical tone. "I think a certain someone here might be a little bit lost."

Jaden smiled back, "Heh heh, don't worry Crowler, Chazz asked to come here too!"

"He means you!" the ex-Obelisk barked back.

"Well to be fair Chazz," Bastion added in, "you are the only one here who isn't wearing their dorm's proper school uniform."

"Err, save it, boy scout!" Chazz yelled back.

"Let's all try to remain civil now students." Banner interjected. He then pressed a button and spoke into the intercom by the door. "Chancellor, I've brought them all here, as you requested."

"Excellent," Sheppard's voice replied, "please enter." With that the door slid open and the group of seven walked in.

* * *

The seven lined up side by side in front of the Chancellor's desk as he began to address them.

"Thank you all for coming today. I'm sorry to take this time away from your busy schedules but I believe once you all hear what I have to say, you'll realize just how important the matter of discussion is."

"Just what _are _we here to talk about, Chancellor?" Alexis asked.

"This concerns the three Phantom Demon cards." Sheppard said plainly.

"The three Phantom _what _cards?" Jaden asked with a perplexed face.

"Phantom_ Demons_," Sheppard answered as he placed his hands behind his back. "Not too long after he created the game of Duel Monsters, Pegasus J. Crawford designed and created the three Phantom Demon cards. Cards welding such immense strength and might, it has been said their power rivals that of the Egyptian God Cards."

This bit of news enticed a gulp from the entire group, save for Zane, who maintained his usual stoic composure.

"So what does all of this have to do with us?" questioned Bastion.

"Yes, well you see," Sheppard continued, "after their construction, the three cards stayed in Pegasus' possession, close at hand. For the most part, the cards remained safely by his side, without incident."

"But that obviously didn't last." Zane stated bluntly.

"Correct," Sheppard answered, "but after some time, the cards grew…restless. A dark aura began to emit from them, almost bloodthirsty in nature. Pegasus then realized that the cards were becoming increasing dangerous. So he turned to Seto Kaiba, our Academy's founder, who at the time, just started to construct the Academy. After some persuasion, Kaiba agreed to house the cards in the Academy. And that's where they are now, buried deep below our feet."

"You mean there here?!" Chazz exclaimed. Looks of astonishment appeared on everyone's face, except for Jaden, who looked down at his feet puzzlingly.

"Yes, and it is our hope that they remain here, locked away from the world." Sheppard said solemnly. "For you see, legends say that if these cards _ever_ see the light of day, terrible things will happen. Continents will shake. Cities will be destroyed. And countless lives will be lost."

The room fell silent as the group struggled to take in what was just said to them.

"Well, let's whip these bad boys out!" Jaden cried excitedly. "I say we give these unstoppable monsters a little test run! Who's with me!"

"CAN'T YOU HEAR DROP-OUT BOY!?" roared Crowler in response to the boy's naivety. "Do the words, oh I don't know…TERRIBLE THINGS HAVE ANY MEANING TO YOU?!"

The Chancellor waited patiently as Crowler finished his rant. "This is why I've have called you here today. You seven are to protect the Phantom Demon cards from the Wicked Ones."

"The Wicked Ones?" Zane asked as he raised his eyebrow.

"That's right, I'm afraid there are others who will work to thwart your actions. They are known as the Shadow Riders, and they have but one goal: To obtain the Demon cards, by any means necessary." Sheppard turned around and looked out his window. "The first one is already here on the island. He arrived amid the darkness of last night's storm."

"I suppose it's only fitting…" Bastion mumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Oh my… I hope these people aren't too dangerous." Banner said nervously.

"So… how exactly do we protect these cards?" Alexis asked, still trying to absorb all this information.

"Yes, I was just getting to that." Sheppard said as he opened a drawer in his desk, and took out a small black box. "The cards are sealed off by Spirit Gates. In order to get to the cards, you must unlock said gates." The Chancellor opened up the box, revealing seven golden keys. All arranged to form something like a jigsaw puzzle. "These are the Spirit Keys. And they are how we will protect the Demon Cards. Seven keys, each for one of you to guard."

The group looked in awe at the keys. Bastion started intently at them before shifting his attention back over to Sheppard. "Wait, if we hold these keys… Won't that make us targets for the Shadow Riders?"

Sheppard looked down at his desk before addressing the group once more. "I won't lie to you all. If you choose to guard a key, I guarantee that the Shadow Riders will be hunting for you."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Chazz said in disbelief. "We'll end up dead before tomorrow morning!"

"Not necessarily," Sheppard reassured, "The keys can't be obtained simply by mere theft or violence. Ancient edict demands that the keys must be won by a duel or else the keys will not function. So, this is why I've have called upon you seven, the school's best, to meet this challenge head on!" Sheppard glanced over all the group members before stopping his eyes at Crowler and Banner and coughing. "Well, five best really, but seven keys, yada yada, you see were I'm going with this."

Crowler quickly leaned toward the rest of the group and whispered, "He certainly doesn't mean me! Right?"

"I had actually wanted to recruit Atticus Rhodes into this group, but unfortunate he is still missing…" Sheppard said with a hit of remorse in his voice.

Alexis looked down solemnly at her feet at the mention of her missing brother, while Zane turned his head to the side.

"Anyway… back to the matter at hand." Sheppard pushed the key box toward the group. "If any of you aren't feeling up to it, and feel like backing out, I won't blame you. I'd be insane to force you all to take up such a dangerous task. You'll be under constant threat, and your very life will be at risk. So, who feels like saving the world?"

The room fell silent as the seven chosen looked at each other, pondering whether or not to take up such a monumental challenge.

A wide grin formed on Jaden's face as he stepped forward and snatched the first key, which had a string attached to it. "Count me in!" he said eagerly, "I mean saving the world from ending? It doesn't get much cooler than that!" He then placed the key around his neck, "And it's just my size too! Maybe it's my destiny to guard this key!"

Zane smiled upon hearing the boy's youthful and optimistic words. He stepped forward and took a key from the box. "I too accept."

Bastion nodded his head in approval as he took up a key for his own, "It would be my honor."

"Hmph, if anyone is gonna save the world, it'll be The Chazz," Chazz proclaimed as he grabbed his key.

Alexis confidently walked up to the box and got a key for herself, "I don't want you boys having all the fun."

Crowler strode up boastfully to the box and stared admiringly at the two remaining keys. "How could I possibly refuse? After all, our very world is at stake! Way of life, our wonderful school here…" He rambled off before finally taking up a key, "and if I said no, how else would I be able to get such a posh piece of jewelry!"

"Well… I'm glad you're doing it for the right reasons, Crowler." Sheppard said, slightly dismayed.

"Well then Pharaoh, seems like were the last ones." Banner calmly walked up and secured the final key by its string, dangling it above his cat, who tried to touch it with its paw.

"Thank you all, you're only doing not a service for this Academy, but the world. And I commend your courage. But, please, head my warning, this is a _war_. You could be attacked at anytime and anyplace, so above all things: be on your guard."

* * *

The rest of the day went on like any other: Jaden fell asleep in class and got scolded, Alexis defeated everyone at Tennis in Gym class, Bastion got the highest test score in the class, and Chazz… continued to refer to himself as "The Chazz." If there truly was a Shadow Rider at the school already, he was taking his sweet time. The sun set as usual, and the four headed back to their respective dorms.

* * *

By the time night rolled around, Jaden was back at the Slifer Red dorms, explaining what had happened to his beyond eager friends.

"and, well… that about it!" Jaden took off the key and let it hang by its string, allowing Syrus and Chumley to stare at it in awe. "All I need to do is protect this key, and those Phantom Demons aren't going anywhere. Pretty sweet huh?"

Syrus was thrown off by his friend's nonchalance about the whole thing. "Jay! This is the end of the world were taking about! Aren't you even a little scared?!"

"I'm with Syrus on this one," Chumley added, "I'm mean a gang of shadowy duelists looking to unleash three cards of mass destruction on the world? That sounds like something right out of my comic books!"

"Yep, well those are some good points there guys. I'll be sure to think on them, after a good night's sleep of course." Jaden gave a yawn before laying down of his bed.

"You'll what?!" Syrus exclaimed. "You can't just go to sleep, what if a Shadow Rider shows up?!"

"Yeah, if you're going to sleep, at least go crash in Chazz's room. I don't want one of those Shadow Rider creeps waking me up to ask where his opponent is." Chumley added nervously.

"Well if one does show up…" Jaden let out another yawn, "I sure he'll wake me up." Jaden closed his eyes and drifted off into deep sleep, leaving Syrus and Chumley to just stare at him in disbelief.

* * *

Hours went by, and it seemed the entire Academy was dormant. Every student and teacher was asleep, except for one female Obelisk Blue.

Alexis walked briskly toward the Slifer Red dorms as she thought to herself. _If what the Chancellor said is right, and there really is a Shadow Rider here already, they'll no doubt go after who they think is weakest first. And with that bright Slifer Red jacket, that's Jaden. I've got to warn him!_

She suddenly spotted a bright, illuminating white light radiating from inside Jaden's dorm room. The Obelisk stopped in surprised, but quickly started to race towards it. "Jaden!"

She made her way up the stairs and threw the door open. The room was completed illuminated by the blinding light. She found Jaden standing in the middle of the room with a surprised look on his face.

"Alexis!?"

The light in the room grew brighter and brighter. It condensed itself closer, surrounding the two along with the still sleeping Syrus and Chumley.

"Jaden, what's happening?!"

A dark voice echoed thought the room.

"Hahaha! The first duel is happening fools!"

* * *

Author's note: *Gasp* Cliffhanger! Lol, not really. I'm positive 99% of you here reading this know what happens next. ^^ Sorry this chapter took longer than usual to get out. I was hoping for daily updates, but reality slapped me in the face and said no. Anyway, that's all for now. Thank you once again to those who read and reviewed. Until next time!

Slight Edit: Yeah I decided to go with the original Japanese name for the Sacred Beasts, the Phantom Demons. Sounds a lot more menacing and cool at the same time. ^^ Shout-out to Alocrion for that suggestion.


End file.
